Inspiration, ideas and information to help women build public speaking content, confidence and credibility. Denise Graveline is a Washington, DC-based speaker coach who has coached nearly 200 TEDMED and TEDx speakers--including one of 2016's most popular TED talks. She also has prepared speakers for presentations, testimony, and keynotes. She offers 1:1 coaching and group workshops in public speaking, presentation and media interview skills to both men and women.

Every day, speakers give themselves away with their own words, denials and verbal exceptions, belying the very things they say. It doesn't have to be a big incident, either. Juan Williams's "I'm not a bigot," used in explaining his remarks about his discomfort at seeing people in Muslim dress on airplanes, or Richard Nixon's "I am not a crook" in response to allegations of wrongdoing in the Watergate scandal, are just the high-visibility examples people are talking about.

But there are more common, less famous denials that undermine speakers' credibility. Think of these as any sentence that starts with a declarative statement, in which your audience can tell there's a "but" clause coming shortly after it starts. Have you been guilty of these credibility drainers?

"I know you all have a lot of questions, but I have a great deal of materials to cover..." announces that you think your material is more important than your audience. While that may be true, it's not a great way to build your reputation with your listeners.

"They told me to say this..." isn't just unfair to your staff, boss or trainer. It saps your credibility by suggesting even you don't believe in what you're about to say. Why then, should we? At best, it suggests you're going to mess up your prepared remarks or didn't practice enough, and want to blame it on someone else.

"I know I only have five minutes, but..." tells us that you are about to violate not only the time allotted to you, but are overconfident of your ability to hold our attention. If you're on a panel, you've just alienated your fellow presenters, along with the audience.

"I have too many things to say, so I'll talk faster." I once watched a candidate for high office in a membership organization announce this before a strictly enforced 5-minute statement in front of those who'd be voting for her--then listened to her speed-talk about 20 minutes of points (with slides) into the limited time. She got ridicule, not votes, and lost. Trying to fix one problem by adding another suggests poor judgment on your part.

What else have you heard speakers say that saps their credibility? Share your gems in the comments.

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Tips on listening to yourself on audio as an important way to improve your next speech. (In fact, listening to a recording of yourself in the car during drive time's one of my favorite ways to find time to practice public speaking.)

Ways to glean lessons from famous recorded speeches, including some free sources of audio and what you can get from listening to others speak.

Special Audible.com subscriber discounts for readers of The Eloquent Woman, and a roster of links to collections of famous speeches by African-American and Hispanic speakers, presidents and world leaders, and big compilations of great speeches--some you've heard many times, others more obscure but no less great. Some are read by actors or colleagues, some are original recordings of the famous speaker. Audible has a great collection of speeches, books on English as a second language, and practice skills for speakers, and the special discounts allow you to save on regular downloads that you can listen to on your computer, iPod or mobile device.

Check out the page and let me know if you spot other offerings we can add to it--and enjoy listening to these inspiring speeches.Go here to subscribe to Step Up Your Speaking, my free email newsletter that looks at a different speaking topic in depth each month...then become a fan of The Eloquent Woman on Facebook and join the conversation with thousands of other women (and men) about public speaking skills and confidence. Affiliate links are included in the great speeches on audio page.